1014 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



EEKEEPING IN THE bOUTHWEST 



BBULK COMB FOR THE NORTH. 

 Why cannot bulk comb honey be 

 profitably produced and success- 

 fully marketed in the North when 

 we are packing and shipping it 

 out every month in the year, in- 

 cluding the coldest winter months'? 

 I can see no reason why beekeepers of the 

 North cannot make it profitable business to 

 produce this kind of honey for the market, 

 during the summer months, at least. Gran- 

 ulation, which is the chief argument ad- 

 vanced against bulk comb honey for north- 

 ern latitudes, would not play any part at 

 that time. We are successfully marketing 

 this product during the entire winter, by 

 packing it as we get orders for it, relique- 

 fying granulated extracted honey and put- 

 ting it over the packed comb honey warm. 

 It reaches the market in excellent condition, 

 and is sold and consumed before it has time 

 to granulate again. 



BULK COMB HONEY AND BETTER PRICES. 



With the proper distribution of our hon- 

 ey crops there would be a gr-eater demand 

 for honey and at better prices. This is one 

 great obstacle confronting not only the bee- 

 keepers but producers of all kinds. Only 

 the exceptionally well-organized producers 

 are marketing their product with any mark- 

 ed success. Attempt after attempt has been 

 made to organize the beekeepers, although 

 but little has been accomplished in this 

 direction. Consequently the individual has 

 to look out for himself and work up schemes 

 of various kinds to enable him to get his 

 product on to the market. Along with these 

 schemes the production of bulk comb honey 

 for at least the home market and territory 

 near by will work for excellent results. 

 There is not a neighborhood that does not 

 demand some honey; and advice has been 

 all along the line to look after the home 

 market first of all, and then, and not until 

 then, ship to other places. Comb honey is 

 always in demand if it can be obtained at 

 a reasonable price. Section comb honey is 

 necessarily exjDensive for the masses. But 

 bulk comb honey can be jDroduced so much 

 more cheaply and easily that the price for 

 it is within easy reach of the majority ; and 

 as a result a great quantity of the honey 

 from the beekeepers' apiaries would find its 

 way into the home market and prevent glut- 

 ted conditions in the general market. 



BULK COMB, PREPARING FOR ITS PRODUCTION. 



This is the time to begin preparations for 



next season, and first for consideration 

 comes the necessary amount of supplies 

 that will be needed. Supers nearly always 

 come in for their part in our " prepared- 

 ness" program. In this connection I should 

 like to emphasize again the matter of pre- 

 paring for the production of bulk comb 

 honey on at least a small scale during the 

 coming season. I suggest this, not be- 

 cause I am " daffy " on the subject of bulk 

 comb honey, but because I honestly believe 

 that its wider production will result in great 

 benefits to the beekeeping industry, and the 

 beekeepers reap better rewards for their 

 efforts. 



In making these preparations you may 

 want to supply yourself with some supers 

 like those we use with shallow frames. The 

 number of requests for information on this 

 subject alone during the past two years has 

 been amazing, and comes from all parts of 

 the globe. More questions are asked about 

 the style of frame best adapted for this 

 purpose ; and since we have had over fifteen 

 years' exijerience with the production of 

 bulk comb honey in all its phases, and with 

 many different kinds of hives and other 

 paraphernalia, we do not hesitate with our 

 recommendations. 



On page 1034 is a picture of one of our 

 warehouses in which a dozen of us are 

 shown nailing up a carload of three thou- 

 sand supers and 30,000 shallow frames for 

 our own apiaries. These are the regular 

 deep shallow extraeting-supers, 5% inches 

 deep, and holding ten shallow frames 5% 

 inches deep, making a standard-sized super 

 for the regular ten-frame equipment. Es- 

 pecial attention is called to the fact that the 

 top-bars of all of our shallow frames are 

 only y% inch wide and y^ inch thick. This 

 is a big improvement over the wider and 

 thinner top-bars usually put out by the 

 factories. The improved frames have gi'eat- 

 er strength, and allow more open space 

 between the frames and from super to su- 

 per, giving freer communication throughout 

 the hive that is of inestimable value in 

 increased production of honey. The top- 

 bars are not grooved eithei- — the thin-super 

 foundation in full sheets being put in with 

 melted beeswax. The groove is absolutely 

 unnecessary, weakens the top-bar, causes 

 delay by necessitating the tedious insertion 

 of the foundation into it if the frame is 

 grooved, and, after being once filled with 

 wax, it cannot be used again after the hon- 

 ey is cut from the frame, anyway. 



